Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Absolutely Awesome Red Letter Day

Hi everyone! Today we have a guest post from my friend Moe over at Mom in Two Cultures. Here's a little bit abut Moe:

My name is Moe (Mom on the Edge) and I write over at Mom In Two Cultures (www.momintwocultures.com). I started blogging when my son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but it turns out I had a little bit to say about a lot of different things. Besides being autistic/neuro-typical, my family is also Japanese/American and living a bilingual bicultural life--not always easy in a Midwestern town of 20,000 people! I’m honored Lydia asked me for a guest post because like everyone at RFML, I believe in facing the challenges of life with as much humor and honesty as I can muster on any given day.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Today was what my husband Ren and I like to call a "super saiko" day. The "super" is English for, well, "super," and the "saiko" is the Japanese for "awesome" or some such sentiment. Super saiko days are usually anything but. Hence, we have a special name for them.Actually, most of today went well. Snag-free, in fact, all the way until bath time. At bath time, things started to fall apart. That's when my son Sky discovered the first candy wrapper. See, Sky likes to save his candy. In fact, we have candy from last Halloween, last Christmas and last Easter, not to mention from just about every birthday party he went to for the past year. Sky's stash migrates. And it is broken into separate groups for quick relocation. If it couldn't be relocated quickly and often, it would be long gone since ninja-like stealth-girl Pink P can find anything anywhere. I've written about her early morning hijinks before. The girl can pull off the crime of the century before your eyes, and you would never notice because of her disarming smile and angelic giggle. [Editor's note: I have one of those. - Lydia]

Today, at bath time, it gradually became clear that Pink P had located and consumed the stash. Sky uncovered the evidence as he was getting his change of clothes ready. First it was a Tootsie Pop wrapper and some shredded Starburst paper. I confronted Pink P who was in the tub, and she admitted to eating the candy I asked about. It didn't take long, though, for Sky to realize that all of his candy was gone.

Once busted, Pink P, who continued to play innocently in the bath, confessed to hiding the rest of the candy under her pillow. Sure enough, there we found three half-eaten suckers and a ring pop. This meant some unpleasant "consequences" for Pink P who was soon crying uncontrollably. Excessive crying on top of excessive candy consumption led to the inevitable vomiting. Pink P was nice enough to do this when I left the room briefly to tend to Sky who was in full meltdown mode triggered by the discovery of his half-eaten ring pop. (In case you're wondering, Ren was making dinner and taking care of the baby while all this was going on--who ever said caring for three kids was like zone defense obviously doesn't live at my house). "I threw up, Mommy," she said calmly when I walked back into the room. Drat. There's nothing quite like trying to fish vomit chunks out of bath water so they don't clog the drain. Nothing.

Once she was out of the bath and Sky'd been pacified by the promise of a trip out for ice cream later, I broke the news to Pink P that she would be going to bed without dinner since she'd eaten quite a bit already and clearly her stomach was out of sorts. Plus, I was hoping the old-fashioned being-sent-to-bed-without-dinner trick might finally break her of her ninja-like habits. Unfortunately, this news was met with another crying fit. Which led to an asthma attack.

Really.

So I had to let her out of her room for a breathing treatment.

I refused to lose my ground entirely, though. I made sure Pink P knew that Sky's special ice cream trip was to make up for his lost candy. Finally seeming to grasp the gravity of her situation, Pink P faced her punishment with dignity and even saw us off when we left for our ice cream outing.

In the car, enjoying the first peace and quiet for hours, my zen-like moment was interrupted with a question from Sky: "Mom," he said, "when your tummy is feeling better from your baby surgery, do you think you could exercise a bit? I don't mean a lot. Just enough so you can be a little skinny."

Sigh. So much for enjoying my ice cream...

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Read more about Moe and her amazing Japanese/American, Austistic/Neuro-typical family right here at: www.momintwocultures.com